noun

salvage

SAL-vihj

noun

The rescue of a ship, its cargo, or other property from damage or loss, or the property recovered this way.

"The salvage crew spent weeks recovering cargo from the sunken freighter."

verb

To rescue something from damage, loss, or failure, or to make use of what can still be saved.

"They managed to salvage a few photographs from the fire."

"The coach tried to salvage the team's season after a rough start."

How to Use Salvage

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo recover or rescue something (often from a wreck, disaster, or failure) that would otherwise be lost.

Easily confused with

savage →

Common pairings

salvage operation salvage what you can salvage yard

salvaged past tense, salvaged past tense, salvages plural, salvages plural, salvages singular, salvages singular

Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.

Can you complete this real example?

The _____ crew spent weeks recovering cargo from the sunken freighter.

From Old French sauver, "to save," ultimately from Latin salvus, "safe" — with the ending "-age" added in English.

age wage cage page rage gage sage mage usage image stage adage